Should Licking County adopt a needle exchange program?

A recently released report by the federal government found that needle exchange programs increased significantly over the last decade.
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Portsmouth’s syringe exchange program allows people to anonymously exchange their used needles for clean ones to help prevent the spread of disease. Licking County is examining starting a similar program.(Photo11: Jess Grimm/Gannett Ohio)Buy Photo

NEWARK – A public discussion begins Wednesday night on whether Licking County should have a needle exchange program to help reduce the spread of disease.

Harm Reduction Ohio, a Granville-based non-profit that advocates statewide for a drug policy based on health, science, compassion and human rights, will sponsor a public forum 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown Newark branch of the Licking County Public Library, 101 W. Main St.

Seventeen Ohio counties have such programs and 10 others are working on it, according to Dennis Cauchon, president of Harm Reduction Ohio.

The Ohio legislature approved needle exchanges in a 2015 budget bill. The increase in overdose deaths in recent years has changed attitudes, Cauchon states in a letter in Sunday's Advocate.

"Almost every Ohioan knows somebody who’s died of an overdose," Cauchon writes. "Many of us know two, three, four or more people. The old stereotype of IV drug users as worthless losers has collapsed as the epidemic has hit closer to home.

"When we know people who’ve died, we don’t see one-dimensional stereotypes. We see fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and co-workers – people who are more than a struggle with drugs."

Needle exchange programs, also known as Bloodborne Infectious Disease Prevention Programs, provide drug users with clean and sterile needles in order to prevent the transmission of blood born diseases, such as Hepiatitis and HIV.

Licking County Health Commissioner Joe Ebel said the state legislation has allowed local health departments to make decisions without going to the state. The Licking County Board of Health must approve the program, but Ebel said he does not know when that might happen.

"There's quite a few things that need to be worked out before any proposal would be presented to our board," Ebel said. "The (Wednesday) meeting will gauge the public interest in it.

"The health department is not leading this, we just want to see what the interest is. The board (of health) hasn't really come out on one side or the other."

The program, if approved, would provide education and on-site screening for bloodborne pathogens, refer participants to treatment programs, encourage them to seek appropriate medical care, and use a record-keeping system that keeps participants anonymous.

Incumbent Licking County commissioner Rick Black, a Republican, and his general election opponent Adam Rhodes, a Democrat, agree such a program is needed.

Rhodes said, "There's better outcomes and it's fiscally responsible, but because leaders aren't driving the discussion, it's not happening. It's a conversation we aren't having and aren't moving forward on."

Black said, "It scares the daylights out of me, but I think we need to do it."

"I wish there was a way to get more treatment tied to it rather than just making sure they have clean needles," he added

A Licking County Health Department report states the county has seen increases in viral hepatitis infections and increases in the rates of injection drug use related to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

The county has experienced a tripling of Hepatitis C cases in the last decade, with 185 cases in 2017, according to the health department. There were 39 cases of Hepatitis B in 2017, but it has also tripled in the last 10 years. In 2016, Licking County had about 180 people living with HIV, including four new cases that year.

Cauchon said such programs save taxpayers money. HIV can cost $400,000 to treat in a lifetime and Hepatitis C costs more than $80,000 for a single course of treatment, he said.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958

If you go

What: Public meeting to discuss needle exchange in Licking County

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Downtown Newark branch of the Licking County Public Library, 101 W. Main St.